Subjecting to Tyranny
by KitKatAttack
Summary: Rumors of Naraku's presence lead the shard hunters to a little red-haired boy, covered in blood, crying in the middle of a decimated village. Gaara/Kagome
1. Chapter 1

Hello! This is my second story and first ever crossover fanfiction. I hope I did it justice! I'm not an amazing writer, but I love writing and I just HAD to write this. Sorry if there are any typos or inconsistencies in the story. Please review and let me know what you liked, hated, or any advice.

This story for Gaara takes place after Yashamaru explained pain to him and after he tried to give the boy he injured medicine. I think it's like half-way through episode 76. Yashamaru hasn't betrayed him yet, basically. And for Kagome, it doesn't really have a certain place. The only major plot point I can think of is that it is after Tsubaki is introduced.

**WARNING**: This story is M because it is a bit graphic in violence. I don't really think it's M, but I'm not taking any chances just in case people think it is too bloody!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Naruto.

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**Subjecting to Tyranny**

"I spy with my little eye something white!" Shippo exclaimed while he skipped contentedly at Kagome's side.

His exuberance was met with heavy sighs and a poorly veiled glare at Kagome—the latter contributed solely from Inuyasha.

They were heading towards a village in the north where giant, flying, wasp-like creatures were rumored to have been spotted. The creatures were most probably Naraku's Saimyosho and after three weeks without so much as a scent of Naraku, it seemed like a blessing to finally have a lead to his whereabouts.

However, when they found out the news, they were quite a ways south and the journey would take at least four days' worth of traveling.

The first day was fine. Inuyasha marched determinedly ahead, barking complaints about how slow everyone was, Kirara and Shippo were walking together a ways behind Inuyasha, Kagome and Sango were walking together and talking animatedly about this and that, and Miroku walked behind the two women, smiling mischievously at having the perfect opportunity to ogle their lovely backsides as he brought up the rear.

The second day was okay. After waking everyone up early with a loud shout about how Naraku was probably already gone because they were taking so long—which was followed by a sit and a fallen hanyou—Inuyasha led the front again. Shippo, Kagome, and Sango walked behind Inuyasha and loudly complained about the slave-driving hanyou, which earned them many heated glares from said half-demon. And poor Miroku's unmoving form lay slumped across Kirara's back after Sango found out about why Miroku always travelled behind them and decided to resolve herself and Kagome of the annoyance.

The third day was absolutely horrid. Woken up by thunder and rain this time instead of Inuyasha, the group grumpily packed up their belongings and sought shelter quickly with Inuyasha carrying Kagome upon his back and the rest flying upon Kirara.

The fourth day was even worse than the third day. Inuyasha picked up the pace drastically to make up for lost time the day before and everyone's leg muscles were aching, Shippo was complaining, Kagome was trying to placate him, Miroku was fondling Sango, and Sango was beating up Miroku. Even Kirara looked exhausted.

And on the fifth day, today, a few minutes ago Kagome tried to relieve the tension and bad energy her group was emitting by suggesting they play a game from her time, 'I spy.'

And it wasn't long until everyone's spirits were lifted and they were enjoying the journey. They were almost at their destination too, which made the hanyou extremely excited.

And then everyone was back to being annoyed.

Kagome, in hindsight, realized that she probably should have kept quiet. She knew the game would only entertain her companions for so long.

What she didn't expect was for Shippo to be so taken with the game.

And for him to be so terrible at it.

"Inuyasha's hair" everyone replied exasperatedly in unison, causing the fox demon to mumble grumpily, accuse them of cheating, and proclaim he would stump them the next time.

The same thing he'd been saying each time he lost.

And he _always_ lost.

Kagome saw Inuyasha's right fist clench and decided that it was time to intervene before there were punches being thrown.

"Shippo, I think we should take a little break from the game for a bit," she said as nicely as she could because she too was ready for it to stop.

"But Kagome!" Shippo whined and gave her those cute little puppy dog eyes. Why a fox demon could make puppy eyes so perfectly, she was at a loss, but her resolve was slipping the longer she had to look—

"You're right Kagome," Sango helped out, sensing her friend was about to break, "We should start preparing ourselves for whatever awaits us at that village. It can't be good if Naraku's Saimyosho are being spotted. There has to be several of them if mere villagers are noticing Naraku's spies."

Even though Kagome knew Sango was partly saying that to help her out, she also knew that Sango had a good point. They did need to start preparing themselves. The village could only be about a couple miles away and they needed to be ready when they got there in case Naraku was luring them into another trap.

And this time she would be ready.

She knew that she was mostly a burden to her companions in the past, which is why she had taken it upon herself to go to a local dojo anytime she was in the present. This past year, she had also sought out Sango and asked her to train her in the ways of demon slaying. Kagome wasn't really good at it and even though Sango was always kind and patient with her, she couldn't help but feel like she was disappointing her friend.

Miroku also helped Kagome with her miko abilities by teaching her new ways to meditate and have better control over her powers. She was now able to consciously channel her powers into her hands or any other weapon. Miroku even commented that she was probably more powerful than Kikyou now, which irritated Inuyasha and overjoyed Kagome.

Miroku's lessons paid off a lot better than Sango's training did, which irked the demon slayer a bit. But Kagome explained to Sango that she felt bad about not grasping Sango's art and wasn't as talented as Sango was at demon slaying, one day while they were bathing. Sango immediately got rid of those ridiculous feelings of jealousy as she listened to her friend and became even more determined to help Kagome any way she could.

Even Inuyasha, in his own _unique_ way, put an effort into helping her with her growth. He would travel faster and farther and wouldn't carry her as often, encouraging her to run and strengthen her stamina. He also taught her how to be strong and not let the words of others defeat her by belittling her more and more. Sometimes he would go too far and she would sit him, but the more he called her names and commented on how weak she was, the stronger she felt and the more she appreciated the painful words of the hanyou she loved.

She was also pretty sure she was turning into a masochist.

Kagome's inner musings were cut off as she watched Inuyasha's ear twitch and saw his body tense. A second later, Kagome heard the sound of heavy, uneven footfalls, as if someone was limping. These soon were accompanied by heavy breathing and up ahead a figure could be made out.

"I smell blood," Inuyasha stated and rushed towards the figure, everyone else following. The figure swayed before collapsing onto the road with a groan. It was a village man she guessed and as Kagome got closer, her eyes watered over as she located the source of the blood. His entire arm was completely crushed and blood was oozing out of it, as well as his foot which appeared to have received the same treatment as his arm.

She heard Shippo gasp from her side and she instinctively covered his eyes to spare him his innocence.

"Kagome," Inuyasha firmly stated, locking eyes with Kagome and she knew he wanted her to uncover Shippo's eyes. It would make him stronger and in this era, innocence for demons was lost at an early age.

Begrudgingly, she let go of her little boy and instead tried to channel her powers into her hands and use them to attempt a healing like Miroku taught her.

When a pink light encased her hands, she lightly touched the mangled appendage, tears freely and rapidly flowing down her pink cheeks.

"Kagome," Inuyasha said softly again, wanting her to stop prolonging the inevitable. But she would be dammed if she didn't at least try to save this man's life. So with determination in her eyes, she placed her hands on the man's arm and closed her eyes, concentrating on her miko abilities.

She felt the arm begin to take shape as she allowed her powers to reconstruct the bone which was completely pulverized. She heard her companions gasp at the power she displayed and her control wavered a bit as she was distracted, but she regained control quickly and continued working.

Sweat formed on her brow as she meticulously started to work on rebuilding his veins, nerves, and muscles. She felt her energy wavering, but she clamped down and exerted more effort to finish quickly because she was almost done.

With a tired sigh, she slumped over a bit and opened her eyes to see her work.

Perfect.

His arm was perfectly put back together without any signs that he had a previous injury to it. She was shocked. She felt like she could save his arm, but she did not expect that it would be back to perfection. She expected scarring, or at the very least, a scratch.

Looking around to take in her companions shocked expressions, she allowed herself to peruse his right foot. She tried to channel her miko energy back into her hands, but the pink light only trickled down to her elbows before completely evaporating

"I can't fix his foot, I've exhausted my resources." Kagome uttered in defeat.

Her statement seemed to snap everyone out of their stupor and Inuyasha wasted no time in starting a tirade.

"You exhausted your miko powers? Do you know how stupid that was? Naraku is probably what caused this guy's injuries and we needed you to purify him at the village! How are you supposed to do that when you have no power left?" Inuyasha yelled in her face.

Kagome felt a little guilty because he did have a point. How was she supposed to help defeat Naraku when her miko powers weren't working? "I couldn't just let him die, Inuyasha! I had to try to help him somehow!"

Inuyasha was about to retort when the man groaned loudly, calling everyone's attention.

"M-my arm. Help." The man mumbled as he opened his eyes a bit. Kagome realized that he couldn't have been more than sixteen and felt even more confident in her decision to heal him.

Approaching closer to the man's line of vision, Kagome spoke softly, "M name is Kagome and I am a miko from a village south of yours. I am sorry, but I could only stabilize my powers long enough to fix your arm. Your foot remains in its previous condition."

The man looked shocked and turned his head slowly to the side to see his arm lying there, unharmed. He clenched his fist and lifted his arm and moved it around, testing it, before his shocked eyes met hers.

"Thank you. I don't think I will ever be able to repay you," he mumbled out in awe before he winced at the pain in his foot, she presumed.

"Nonsense," Kagome responded as she helped him into a sitting position, "I'm just sorry that I couldn't fix your other injury."

"Okay, enough of this. What happened?" Inuyasha demanded grumpily, peeved at all of the attention this unknown villager was receiving from Kagome.

The man apparently hadn't noticed Inuyasha before and began trembling in fear as the hanyou glared angrily at him.

"Inuyasha, you aren't helping," Kagome grit out between her teeth. "What's your name?" She asked sweetly to the man.

"S-Shiro," he said, still scared.

"Don't worry Shiro-san, Inuyasha won't hurt you. He's my friend. Can you please help us out by telling us what happened to you?" Kagome inquired.

Shiro paled and his trembling doubled severely. "H-he killed them. Everyone. Man, woman, ch-child, it made no difference."

"Who killed who?" Kagome patiently asked.

"The villagers, everyone, m-my f-family, killed. By a monster." He cried and slumped onto Kagome's shoulder. "He showed up and attacked one of the village boys viciously and unprovoked. The rest of the village retaliated and that was when h-he…"

Rubbing his back soothingly and shooting a glance at Inuyasha, Kagome pressed on, "What did he do, Shiro-san?"

She felt Shiro tightly grip onto her rapidly wet shirt. "It was everywhere…" he started before a choke cut him off. She continued to rub his back as she waited for him to pick up where he left off.

After a couple deep breaths, Shiro continued. "Sand. He controlled the sand. His eyes became so eerie as the sand wrapped around all the villagers a-and completely crushed them. I was coming back to the village and some of his sand latched on and crushed my arm and foot before I managed to get away. B-but not before I saw everyone in the village die by his sand."

"Who was he?" Inuyasha demanded. He was only met with more crying from the man and he had to wait for the villager to quiet down again.

"Shiro-san?" Kagome prompted.

She got no response and felt Shiro completely slump against her as he lost consciousness, most likely from the pain of his foot and the emotional stress he was under. She carefully placed him down and looked at her companions. "Do you think the monster he talked about is another detachment of Naraku's?"

"I was coming to the same conclusion, Lady Kagome," Miroku said, "But I find it odd that Naraku would attack a village boy first before destroying everyone in the village at the same time. It doesn't add up. And Naraku has never had the ability to control sand before."

"Keh," Inuyasha flexed his claws, "Naraku loves toying with people and showing others how powerful he is. He started with the kid to get the rest of the villagers to fight. And then he showed his dominance by slaughtering them all. And the sand thing is strange, but so is Naraku. He could have talked with that dark miko again," he paused as he watched Kagome shudder, "or maybe he absorbed a demon that controlled sand."

"But if it was Naraku, wouldn't I have sensed jewel shards by now?" Kagome wondered aloud.

"Whoever or whatever he is just killed an entire village. We must act quickly and cautiously as we approach the village. Even if it is a detachment of Naraku, we still don't know what we are up against and we need to be ready." Sango said, ever the warrior.

"Kagome, get the villager to the nearest villa—" Inuyasha began.

"No. There is no way I am letting you guys risk your life while I travel some more. And besides, the 'nearest village' just got completely destroyed," Kagome huffed.

"You're not strong enough, wench! You just wasted you power on him and there is no way in hell I am going to waste my time in battle saving your ass every time!" Inuyasha argued. Kagome knew his coarse words just meant he was worried about her and that he cared for her, but she wasn't weak anymore.

"My powers are back!" She lied.

"Oh yeah? Prove it." Inuyasha countered smugly.

Crap. _Think Kagome, think! Do you want to sit out on another battle and let everyone else risk their lives?_ Then the answer hit her. "While we talked, some of my powers came back. Not all of them, but enough so I can fight. I am not going to use them in some display to prove to you anything when I need to be saving them to defeat whoever destroyed that village." Kagome haughtily responded, which only infuriated Inuyasha more.

"Are you sure you are able to fight, Kagome?" Miroku questioned before Inuyasha had a chance to argue some more. Miroku's eyes pierced hers and she felt like he could see into her soul. _No! I can't! I'm lying through my teeth!_ She screamed in her mind, but somehow managed to nod her head in yes. His eyes evaluated hers one last time before he sighed in resignation.

"Shippo," Sango called, seeing that Kagome was apparently going to be fighting after all. Said orange fur ball appeared and pouted, already sensing that he would be missing out on another battle. "Please transform and take Shiro-san to get help for his foot as fast as you can."

"But—" Shippo started.

"Shippo-kun, can you please do this for us? I couldn't carry him there by myself and you are such a strong demon, I'm sure you'd have no problem with it at all," Kagome pleaded.

When in doubt, inflate the ego.

Shippo's chest puffed up and he transformed into a giant bubble thing before Sango placed the villager upon him. "Can I have some pocky too Kagome?" he asked.

"Certainly Shippo!" Kagome responded.

Of course, bribery worked just as well as ego fanning.

The group waited until Shippo was out of sight before springing into action. Sango got her boomerang ready, Inuyasha unsheathed the Tessaiga, Miroku grasped onto his prayer beads, and Kagome got her bow and arrow in hand.

Nodding to each other, they all started to advance upon the village, Inuyasha leading. They saw the first signs of the attack as they approached some crop fields.

Blood.

It was everywhere.

It reminded Kagome of the time when she was a little girl and decided that painting would be more fun if she could paint outside of just a piece of paper. When her mother came home, there was pink paint covering all the walls, globs of it on the floor, the furniture had splotches of pink here and there, and upon a previously crème couch sat a pink splotched girl.

Except here, it wasn't paint.

It was blood.

Kagome gulped as she took in the fields that had blood splattered graciously as if it was some kind of fertilizer. Actually, there were even white specks in the blood, making it look even more like fertilizer. _White flecks? What are those—_

Kagome felt the bile work its way up her throat as she realized what the white flecks were. She had to close her eyes for a few moments before opening them again so she wouldn't throw up.

_Bone._

The white was bone.

Shiro-san was telling the truth when he said people were crushed completely. Only thing left was bits of bone and blood.

Lots and lots of blood.

"Kagome," Inuyasha was suddenly in front of her. He gazed worriedly into her eyes and brought his hand up to squeeze her shoulder comfortingly. It wasn't a lot for anyone else, but Kagome knew that it took a lot for Inuyasha to show affection, especially in front of other people, and that alone made Kagome put on a weak smile and deliver an affectionate squeeze upon his hand on her arm before continuing to follow Miroku and Sango.

She tried to avoid stepping on the remains of villagers, but when she said it was everywhere, it was everywhere and impossible to avoid walking on.

Kagome was instantly thankful that Shippo took Shiro-san instead of her. If she was having a hard time with this, there was no way Shippo would be able to handle it.

As they approached some of the compounds, the gruesome sight was made even worse. Blood splattered the huts and ran thickly down the side of roofs and walls. It seemed to seep out of the homes as if it were the huts that were injured and bleeding.

Silent tears made the way down her face as they pressed on. _The terror these people went through…_ Kagome gulped and held in the sobs she wanted to deliver. She needed to be strong.

She saw Sango tense and motion them over with her hand. Looking down, Kagome saw what had caught her attention. There, scattered in blood at the base of one hut, was a thin piece of yellow and a bit of a transparent wing.

"Saimyosho," Inuyasha whispered. He gave them a hard look and took the lead again. Kagome noticed his knuckles turn white as his grip on the Tessaiga tightened. He was just as nervous as the rest of them.

The further they went into the village, the more blood there was and the more destroyed Saimyosho they would see. It was really getting to Kagome, and she suspected from Sango's teary eyes and Miroku's restless twiddling of his prayer beads, it was taking its toll on everyone else.

Inuyasha's ears twitched again and he tensed.

He slowly made his way to the center of the village, being careful to remain hidden as he did so. Kagome, Miroku, and Sango all followed. And soon they heard what Inuyasha heard.

Crying.

Not just crying, though. Sobbing. Heart wrenching, uncontrollable sobbing.

Inuyasha eventually stopped in shock a couple of houses in front of them. Catching up to him, Kagome peered around the hut and promptly froze too.

There, crumpled on the ground facing away from them was a small boy, still a child. He was emitting the deep sobs and mumbling 'sorry' over and over again.

Kagome thought of her paint incident and thought of how she was splashed with pink paint everywhere. And this boy was splashed too. Just as she was.

"Inuyasha," she whispered brokenly, making sure to be as quiet as physically possible so not to give away their position. "Do you think h-he, that little boy, did all of this?"

She watched Inuyasha shift uncomfortably, "I can't be sure, but I think so. Do you hear him? He keeps apologizing. He had to have done something bad."

"Despite the Saimyosho, I do not see any other signs of Naraku. That, however, doesn't mean he couldn't be controlling this boy," Sango growled lowly. Tears were coating her cheeks now. Kagome knew this one hit too close for home for the young slayer. Sango's brother Kohaku was controlled by Naraku via a jewel shard lodged in his back and Naraku forced Kohaku to do horrible things. Things as bad as even this.

Miroku put a hand on Sango's shoulder and reasoned, "I am not so sure it is Naraku's doing. Kagome surely would have sensed a jewel shard if the child was being controlled."

"Yashamaru!" the cry from the boy startled the group out of their thinking and they instantly refocused back on the small red-headed child.

"Yashamaru! It hurts! It hurts so much!" he cried out and grasped his chest. Kagome inched forward to help the child but Inuyasha latched onto her wrist and shoved her back behind him.

"He's still dangerous," Inuyasha growled out.

"I didn't mean to! I didn't mean to kill them! He did it, Yashamaru! Make the pain go away. I don't know how to fix it. Are you sure it's been given to me? Because it hurts so bad, Yashamaru!" the boy continued to sob.

Inuyasha grabbed Kagome and pulled her back behind the hut. Miroku and Sango stopped peering around and joined them.

"Well, we know the kid is definitely behind all of this," Inuyasha muttered, deeming it okay to release Kagome. She rubbed her wrist and could make out the light blue color of bruising already.

"Yes, but the question is, what do we do about it?" Miroku asked.

"Keh, that's easy. We kill him," Inuyasha brought his sword up.

Kagome was completely disgusted by Inuyasha. "He's a child Inuyasha! You want us to kill a child?" she yelled.

She felt Sango grab onto her arm, "we've killed young before Kagome. We have to kill younger demons sometimes, in order to protect innocent lives."

"Younger demons, maybe," Kagome regretfully consented, "but not human _children_."

"I was meaning to ask Inuyasha about that. Not meaning to contradict you, Lady Kagome, but I do not believe the child is human. If he has the ability to control sand, it is much more likely that he is a demon. However, I must admit that I have never heard of a demon being able to control such an element in my travels before. Inuyasha, do you smell any demon in him?" Miroku asked.

"The smell of blood is too strong, I can't smell anything except it," Inuyasha responded, sniffing slightly.

"What should we do?" Sango asked while shifting her weight from side to side, obviously anxious for some kind of decision.

"I still think we should kill it." Inuyasha insisted.

"No," Kagome responded, just as insistently. "Didn't you hear how sad he was? He obviously didn't mean to do any of this. He is hurt and doesn't know what to do and no one is there to help him!"

"So you think if you just go up and hug him, you will be able to fix the kid of all his problems? It doesn't work like that, Kagome!"

"Who's there?" The scared voice of the boy sounded. Inuyasha didn't realize how loud his own voice had gotten while he was trying to talk Kagome out of another one of her stupid and reckless plans. Apparently their target had found out he was being watched.

The sand around them started to rustle and after it was too late they realized that sand had wrapped around them painfully and they were being dragged towards the boy.

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Gaara was so confused. His uncle, Yashamaru, explained to him that the only way to fix the pain inside of him was love. And Yashamaru said that his mother loved him.

So why did he still feel the pain? Why didn't it go away?

He tried to give the boy he hurt medicine to help, but the boy refused and called him a monster.

_**You are a monster, Gaara. A demon. **_

"Shut up!" Gaara cried. That voice that would suddenly appear in his head, the reason why he didn't sleep, the reason why people were afraid of him.

The reason why he killed.

_**You enjoy the kill as much as I.**_

"That's a lie!" Gaara shouted, walking farther and farther away from home. The farther he was, the less likely he would hurt anyone else.

He hated to hurt other people, especially Yashamaru.

Gaara hugged himself tighter as the cool night wind of the desert whipped around him. He didn't know where he was going, but he needed to get away. And it was okay, too.

Because nobody would miss him.

Yashamaru, maybe, but even he would eventually get over it. Everyone in Suna feared and hated him. His father hated him the most.

Not for the first time, Gaara wondered what it would have been like if his mother was still alive. Would his father have still hated him, or would he have loved him? Would Gaara have grown up with tons of friends? Would this voice still taunt him, or would he have never heard it?

_**You could have never escaped me. I am you.**_

"Stop it! Please just stop it!" Gaara collapsed on the ground, crying. _It hurt. It hurts so much. Why can't I be just like everyone else?_

"Why am I always alone?" He whispered to himself.

He received no answer, not from the sky, not from the voice in his head. He truly was alone.

Gaara curled up and continued to cry a bit. Seeking comfort from another person and receiving none, he imagined that his arms that wrapped around him were actually someone else's, like Yashamaru or his father. And they were comforting him.

But his imagination could only bring him so far, for when the tears stopped and he stood up, there was no one comforting him. There was only a pitiful little boy, hugging himself.

Gaara turned further away from his home and walked out of the gates of Sunagakure, the ninja guarding the village letting him pass through without any confrontation. They were terrified of the boy after he tried to pass through the gates a week ago and a ninja attempted to stop him.

And the kid killed the ninja without lifting a finger.

Gaara wasn't sure where he was going, but he knew he needed to get away from his village. He would never completely leave his village, he was loyal, but he needed to get away from the stares and shivers he always evoked in others.

At least for a little while.

So he allowed himself to wander across the dunes and gaze up at the stars. If he could never seek comfort from another, at least he could from nature. The sand around him was being softly picked up by the wind and settled upon new dunes. The stars were bright in the sky. The unbearable heat of the desert was a sharp chill in the night.

It was…peaceful.

Gaara focused back on the ground as he noticed the sand around him twitch agitatedly. He wasn't doing it, at least not consciously. It started to wind up his arms and tug him forward.

What was happening?

He struggled against it, but it responded only by tightening and tugging him harsher forward. His sand had never reacted like this before. It was completely out of his control, so he did the only thing he could think of.

He followed.

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So I think that's where I want to stop this chapter at, even though I want to write more! My friend told me not to make the first chapter too long…so blame her.

The next chapter will continue where this one left off and be told from Gaara's perspective at the beginning. And just so no one is confused, Gaara isn't in Sengoku Jidai yet, so his confrontation with Kagome and the gang will resume in the next chapter.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I love Gaara so much and I'd been toying around with this idea for quite some time before finally growing a pair and deciding to write it down. I just hoped you liked reading it as much as I loved writing it.

Please review! You've made it this far, all you have to do now is press one little button and express your thoughts in a review for me!

Thank you.

Kitkatattack


	2. Chapter 2

Hello Again! I'm back to entertain you some more (hopefully). I just wanted to give a quick shout out to **Dark Void Princess 21**, **Lozenger12**,** merlyn1382**,**Have Socks Will Travel**, and **Kagome Miko207 **who were kind enough to review my story. Thank you so much! You guys made me so happy! Folks, please aspire to be like these five and review because when you don't, I wonder if y'all are just reading this and thinking, "Pft. She calls this a story? This chick can't write!" And then that theory gives me absolutely nooooooo motivation to continue posting this story. So please Review! :D

And **Kagome Miko207**, this is actually a story about a pedophile named Kagome…..just kidding. It will be a romantic relationship between the two eventually. We just have to wait for Gaara to grow up or for Kagome to grow down! But don't forget that Shukaku isn't a kid and he may start to experience some…interesting feelings…

**WARNING**: This chapter is M because it gets kind of bloody. So if that bothers you, then just imagine that it is ketchup! Actually…that probably won't work either. Oh, and I suppose I should warn you that you are in for a long chapter. Don't hate.

Disclaimer: I still do not own Naruto OR Inuyasha…sigh.

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**Subjecting to Tyranny**

Gaara wasn't sure how much time had passed since the sand started to lead him away from the outskirts of Sunagakure, but he was starting to get anxious. He still had no idea where it was taking him; the only thing he saw around him were sand dunes and sky, nothing that should have worked the grains up into such a frenzy.

He was starting to regret his decision to take this trip outside the gates in the first place. All he wanted was to get away from the stares and hatred for a little while. He didn't want to be away from home and Yashamaru forever, but the sand still hadn't released him and had started tugging him along faster.

"Stop it," Gaara commanded. The sand, however, refused to listen to him. "I said stop it!" He yelled, and yet it still continued to pull him along.

He started to struggle against it, trying to break its hold again. He knew that no one could break free of his sand once it wrapped around them, but he still continued to try. He had to do something.

Apparently, it didn't like this and resulted to wrapping his arms to his side and encasing his entire waist so he couldn't move his upper half at all in some kind of mock parody of a hug. However, this was not the kind of comfort he longed for. He wanted human contact.

He stopped trying to struggle in case it decided to wrap around him completely, and he continued to move forward.

What if he never saw Yashamaru again? What if the sand decided to take him away forever? Gaara's eyes misted over with tears.

_**Stop being so weak.**_

"Well what am I supposed to do?" Gaara yelled, the tears his eyes were working up falling down his pale cheeks.

His only answer came from the sand as it suddenly picked up the pace. Gaara now had to run to avoid being dragged across the desert.

And just as quickly as it sped up, the sand stopped tugging him. Gaara's legs stopped moving and he stood atop a sand dune, the grains that were previously holding him captive trickled slowly down his arms and waist to pool at his feet.

Gaara watched as the sand that fell from him started to slither across the dune, almost searchingly. What it was looking for, he did not know. He glanced around wondering why he was brought here. From his high vantage point, all he saw was desert.

He glanced back down at the sand as it stopped sliding about and started to swirl, picking up speed to cause a mini tornado. Gaara covered his nose, ears, and eyes with his sleeves to protect him against the chaotic spinning, but he needn't have bothered because, once again, his sand shield came up to protect him from any danger.

Gaara wondered why his sand could only protect him from the pain caused by outside forces. It wasn't fair that love was the only thing that could fix his pain, because it didn't work for him. The cure, the only cure, the cure Yashamaru told him he'd been given, he was immune to.

"Why am I the different one?" Gaara wondered in a defeated voice. His siblings weren't different like him. His father wasn't. He was sure his mother wasn't. He was the only different one. The one with two voices in his head, the one who could control sand, the one with no friends.

The one who was alone.

The wall of sand disintegrated suddenly and Gaara's eyes widened in shock as he saw what the sand tornado had done.

_A well?_

There, about fifteen feet in front of him was a well that the sand had apparently dug up and uncovered. It looked extremely old, the wood was rotted in some places and the back wall of the well was missing completely.

Did the sand think he was thirsty? And even if that was the case, why bring him to a well which obviously did not work.

Gaara was annoyed. He was dragged here, against his wishes, by rogue sand, and the only thing the silt had to show for it was a rotted old well.

Turning around, Gaara attempted to walk towards home, or at least the direction he assumed home was in. However, he only got about a step before sand shot up and formed a dome around him, completely encasing him and the well in its thick shell.

And then the shell started closing in.

Gaara realized that this is what it must feel like for his victims. He didn't like this feeling. And every second the shell was closing in closer so Gaara was forced to take a step back, and back again as the sand closed in on him.

"Stop it! Please stop! I don't know why you're doing this!" He cried, scared that he was going to get crushed.

The sand shell didn't listen though and kept closing in and forcing Gaara to continue to back-up. Suddenly, Gaara's legs hit the wood and he realized he had nowhere left to go.

And the shell was approaching him fast.

He clenched his eyes shut and waited to be crushed. He'd never see his father or Yashamaru again. He'd be alone, even at his death. And the only tears anyone would cry would be his.

_**The well, you idiot! Get in the well! The sand will not hurt you there!**_

But Gaara didn't move because he was so scared. Tears streamed down from his closed eyes and he whimpered.

_**Boy, you will listen to me if you want to live!**_

The pure animosity in that voice scared Gaara enough to open his eyes. He listened to the voice and moved to sit on the lip of the well. He pulled his legs over the edge and peered down. He couldn't see anything at the bottom, just darkness.

He looked back behind him at the sand shell and saw that it was about two inches away from his back. _Fall to death or be crushed to death?_ But he didn't have long to ponder because before he knew it, the sand had reached him from behind and the force pushed him from the ledge and into the darkness of the well.

He couldn't help the startled cry that tore free from his throat as he fell, his screams echoing across the well walls.

The feeling of falling only lasted a moment and Gaara suddenly experienced weightlessness as blue light enshrouded him.

_Am I dead?_ He wondered. The blue light pulsed around him and Gaara floated around inside it. It let out one more blue pulse, momentarily blinding him, and then it slowly dissipated.

Gaara felt his feet touch down and he looked around him to figure out where he was. His feet were on dirt and what he could tell from the dim lighting around him, he was surrounded on all sides by walls made out of stones and covered with vines.

He was still in a well.

_But h-how can that be? I should have died_. Gaara looked above him and was shocked to find it wasn't nighttime anymore. The sky was clear blue. He could not have been falling long enough for it to go from midnight to afternoon that quickly.

He felt his sand start to form a sort of standing platform beneath his feet and it lifted him out of the well.

And Gaara was shocked with what he saw.

Green. It was everywhere. He was not in the desert anymore. He stepped off of the grains and onto the soft grass, while his make-shift platform dissolved and coiled around his feet. He was in a field it looked like. It was surrounded by dense forest on three sides and in front of him, the part that wasn't forest, he could make out mountains and hills in the distance.

It wasn't the desert, but it had its own sort of peacefulness. Everything was alive and flowers were blooming. He could hear birds and bugs chirping and the weather was nice and warm with a soft breeze. Definitely not the extreme hot or cold he was used to in the desert. The trees were tall and healthy; one particular tree caught his interest because he could see it rising far above all the others.

It was peaceful, sure, but he preferred his home and he was still confused why the he was led here. Turning around, he started to lift himself over the well's ledge. If it brought him to this strange place, it would most probably take him back.

As he jumped down into the well, he had only about a one second fall before his platform formed once again beneath him and vaulted him out of the well, preventing him from going home.

Landing on the grass again, Gaara quickly turned and tried again, only to be met with the same result. He kept trying and trying until eventually, the sand put a cover over the well so he couldn't even jump in it.

"Why are you doing this? Just let me go home." Gaara cried as he desperately clawed at the cover. But once he scraped some of it away, more would appear.

Gaara's cries escalated into sobs of stress and anger and his sand started to lash out around him and wrap around some of the trees. He could barely hear the splintering sounds the trees gave as his sand crushed them, pieces of wood that would have struck him, deflected by his automatic shield.

_**Someone's coming.**_

Gaara instantly calmed down and his chakra infused sand crawled up his legs, hidden beneath his pants.

_**Take cover in the trees**_.

Gaara's sand lifted him into the tree nearest him and he hid behind the limbs, leaving enough room so he could see between the leaves.

A figure was slowly making its way out of the forest and towards some plants growing near the well. It was an old woman with an eye-patch dressed in red and white. She started plucking the plants and collecting them in a little pouch she had while quietly humming to herself, oblivious of his presence.

Gaara felt his sand coil and crawl anxiously around his legs. He couldn't figure out what, but something was different about this woman and it put him and his sand on edge.

_**A miko!**_

The voice in is head hissed loudly. His sand started to lash out angrily at nearby trees, slicing them in two, drawing the attention of the old woman.

_**Kill her! Kill her now, Gaara! She'll kill you if you don't! I want her blood!**_

Gaara didn't want to kill her because she wasn't doing anything, but his sand continued to lash out and destroyed trees closest to him before making its way towards the woman. It was about to wrap around her when it was propelled away by a bright pink shield like his own.

His sand came back and wrapped around the pink barrier, struggling with it for a while before crushing it completely and wrapping around the woman.

"Not again. Stop it! She didn't do anything wrong!" Gaara yelled, dropping down from the trees. His sand seemed to pause for a moment before quickly dropping the woman and slithering to form a strong shield in front of him.

Just in time too as he heard the sound of several things thunk against his shield. It dropped after he was out of danger and he saw that there were arrows littering the ground around him. Standing in front of the woman were about half a dozen villagers armed with arrows, preparing to shoot at him again.

"I-I am so s-sorry," Gaara stuttered before running the opposite way from the villagers and into the dense forest on the other side.

_**What are you doing? Get back there and kill them!**_

Gaara ignored the voice and kept on running, avoiding large roots and trees easily with his chakra infused feet.

His sand was coiled back around his calves, hiding beneath his pant legs. He had no idea where he was running to, he just knew he didn't want to hurt those people back there and knew if he stayed there any longer, he would have.

With his speed, it wasn't long before the forest dispersed and turned into a dirt road which led to another village. He hid behind one of the houses and tried to figure out what to do next. He couldn't go back home because those people would probably still be near the well and besides, his sand wouldn't let him anyways.

He would have to blend in here while he figured out another way to get back home.

"Excuse me," a cheerful voice sounded behind him. Gaara turned and saw a cute girl with short, uneven black hair and a dirty pink yukata. "My name is Mika, who are you?"

She couldn't be talking to him. Everyone was afraid of him.

"Hey, are you listening to me?" She asked and walked right next to him, smiling. "I said my name is Mika, what's yours?"

Gaara was shocked. No one had ever acted so friendly towards him before. "G-Gaara"

She smiled, "Nice to meet you! Hey Gaara, why are you hiding behind a house?"

"I-I don't know w-what else to do," Gaara responded, he still couldn't believe she was actually talking to him without any signs of fear or hatred.

She looked confused and started walking towards the heart of the village. Gaara's face fell. He knew it was too good to be true. She was leaving him.

"Hey, aren't you coming?" She called back from over her shoulder, smiling, "You said you didn't know what to do, but my dad's the head of the village and I'm sure he could help you, Gaara!"

She stopped walking and waited for Gaara to catch up before leading him into the village. Gaara was still in complete shock. _She wasn't leaving me! She actually wants to help me!_ Gaara was so happy. He'd never felt this happy before. Did the sand know this would happen? Is that why it led him here? So he could finally have a friend?

A small smile alighted Gaara's lips as he listened to the girl, Mika, telling him about the village. He liked listening to her, he liked it even more knowing she was talking to _him_.

"Hey Mika-chan!" A boy's voice interrupted her and Gaara saw her tense as a boy at least a couple years older than them approached.

"W-what do you want?" Mika whispered, all her cheerfulness Gaara had gotten used to gone from her voice.

The boy tsked and fingered her dirt covered yukata. "Mika-chan, Mika-chan. What did I say about going into the forest by yourself? You could get hurt and we wouldn't want that now would we?" The boy smiled, but it wasn't a friendly one.

Gaara didn't like this boy. He was taller than him by a lot and he had long hair that was pulled at the nape of his neck. The boy's stance shouted arrogance and Gaara didn't like the fact that Mika was nervous around him.

"I-I don' have to listen to you!" Mika shouted, looking up bravely into the boy's face. "Our parents may have arranged our marriage, but we aren't married yet. I don't have to do what you say Hotaka, and if I have anything to say about it, we will never get married. I will never belong to you!"

Gaara watched as the boy's face contorted with anger and he lifted his hand before bringing it across Mika's face with a loud smack, causing Mika to fall roughly to the ground.

"Listen to me you bitch—" Hotaka began but found his mouth suddenly full of sand. He struggled as more sand started wrapping around his entire body.

Gaara took sick pleasure in the whimpers the boy made as his sand continued to wrap around the boy, completely covering him.

_**Now, Gaara.**_

Gaara quickly crushed the boy and watched as blood dripped down from between the grains. The cries from the villagers near him brought him back from his bloodlust. He turned towards Mika and she was looking at him with wide eyes, obviously scared.

_D-did I do something wrong? I was only protecting her._ Gaara started to walk slowly towards Mika, trying to figure out what to say to her to bring back that cheerful girl he met moments ago.

"Y-you stay away from me!" She cried and crawled backwards from him.

Gaara felt a sharp pain in his chest.

"But I was trying to protect you from that boy," he whispered, not understanding why she was so upset with him. That boy hit her and he himself saved her.

"You killed him!" She screamed at Gaara, "Y-You're a monster. You're nothing but a monster!"

Monster.

That word again.

"Why do you people always say that!" Gaara let out a frustrated cry as his sand started to thrash about violently.

Why did people always call him that? He was just trying to help. Why couldn't people understand that? He was protecting her from that boy, from pain brought by that boy's fist.

_**That's right Gaara, you were protecting her. And what did that bitch do to show her appreciation? She called you a monster.**_

The voice was right.

_**You were only trying to help. And she called you that horrible word.**_

Gaara's sand started to spread out and slink throughout the entire village.

_**She wants a monster Gaara. Show her what a real monster looks like.**_

Gaara closed his eyes and grabbed on to his head, wanting the voice to stop before he did something bad.

"You think we'll let you get away with killing one of our own?" Gaara heard a rough male voice shout out before his sand shield shot up and protected him from a rock that was thrown. It was soon followed by many other rocks and weapons that the other village men threw.

"Come out of from behind your wall, unless you are too afraid to face us." The same voice taunted.

"Some monster you are!" Another voice shouted.

_**Again. They called you that word again.**_

Gaara screamed and clenched his head tighter, trying to stop the voice.

"Come out and fight us, you pathetic demon!"

_**Kill them.**_

His eyes narrowed as he stood up and faced the villagers, his shield dissolving and pooling at his feet.

"Look who decided to come out and pl—" The villager that threw the first rock started to say before Gaara sent his sand out and it wrapped around the man. He watched as all the people around him and all the people out in the fields and inside the huts were encased in his sand and dragged before him.

He watched as they struggled pathetically in his hold, some yelling out threats and others crying their apologies out.

It made no difference what they said. He would kill them all.

His sand surrounded everyone completely and he waited a moment before slowly closing in his sand, inch by inch. He relished in the muffled cries and screams as the villagers were slowly crushed to death by his sand.

Blood splattered down upon him and the entire village and he enjoyed the way the warm, gooey liquid trickled between his fingers and down his limbs, pleased that the sand shield didn't deem the blood of his enemies dangerous enough to protect him against.

It was as if the heavens were raining down blood. The red substance splashed over huts and littered the ground in crimson. It was magnificent.

_**Good job, Gaara.**_

And it was that voice that snapped him back into reality.

"What have I done?" He whispered. The full weight of his actions crashing down upon him and he suddenly couldn't breathe. He tried to suck in air or cough or something but the only thing coming from his throat was a strangled choking sound.

_**Breathe you imbecile! Breathe!**_

Gaara finally gasped in a big gulp of air and started coughing uncontrollably. His coughs took a violent turn and he was clenching his throat as he collapsed onto the ground, choking now.

_**What's done is done. Pull yourself together!**_

Gaara's choking subsided and he got his coughing under control. He banged his fists down on either side of his head and they made a squelching noise as they landed in a pile of red goo. He felt the warm blood seep through the cracks in his hands and felt the crushed up pieces of bone grate against his skin, feeling uncannily like the sand grains that destroyed it.

What had he done? Sure, Gaara had killed people before, but never had he killed and entire village before. Without mercy. And all because of one word.

_She was right. I am a monster._ Gaara could feel the blood dampen his clothes and plaster his hair to his forehead, dripping red drops into his eyes. He probably looked like a monster too.

Gaara just laid on the ground, crying silently until he felt the blood start to dry and crack along his skin and clothes. The blood of the villagers.

The blood of Mika.

His crying became vocalized and it was a pitiful and frightening wail that bounced against all the houses. He wished he could go back and never have been brought here. The pain in his chest that he had grown accustomed to hurt so badly, Gaara was sure it would kill him for what he had done.

"I'm sorry!" He cried, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" It was his mantra and he repeated it over and over again, shaking on the ground.

"Yashamaru!" he shouted, "Yashamaru! It hurts! It hurts so much!"

Gaara had to clench his chest to try to relieve the agony he felt in there at what he had done to all the villagers. It was that voice's fault though, not his. Not Gaara.

"I didn't mean to! I didn't mean to kill them! He did it, Yashamaru! Make the pain go away. I don't know how to fix it. Are you sure it's been given to me? Because it hurts so bad, Yashamaru!" He sobbed as the hand on his chest clenched onto his shirt and twisted the fabric, trying to relieve some of the tension and pain he felt. Why didn't love cure his pain?

He couldn't stop crying now, even though his sobs had quieted down a little. He just wished the pain would go away, the voice would go away, and he would go away so he never hurt anyone ever again.

Gaara was interrupted by his thoughts as he finally noticed that his sand was trying to alert him of intruders. Someone was stepping on his sand. Someone had seen his breakdown.

Someone had seen his weakness.

Gaara, wiped the tears from his face and stood up to his less than intimidating short stature and he realized that he almost allowed himself to become completely unraveled and destroyed by the deaths he caused, something a real shinobi would never allow.

There was a time for grief and sorrow for one's actions, but it shouldn't have been still on the battle field. Gaara held his chin high and called out to the intruders.

"Who's there?" his voice sounded small and scared, not what he was going for if he was trying to appear intimidating to his potential enemies.

He made his sand go out and it latched on to the intruders, carrying four people out in front of him by tightly grasping on to their waists.

He watched as they struggled with their weapons and he ordered his sand next to grab onto the instruments and yank them away so they clattered harmlessly to the floor.

He watched in awe as the once giant sword he first glanced at shriveled up and transformed into a dull, rusty, blade. Was it the work of a genjutsu?

"What do you think you're doing you little brat!" Yelled the previous wielder of the sword. Gaara's eyes narrowed and his sand came to wrap over the man's mouth, muting his words but still allowing him to breathe through his nose.

The others were wisely quiet and he took this time to assess his enemies. The man that had the sword was dressed all in red and had long white hair, and atop his head were—

_Are those dog ears?_

Gaara was surprised and really confused. His eyes widened even more as he saw that instead of normal fingernails, this man had claws.

_**He's a hanyou.**_

The voice sounded in his head. But that still didn't help him. _What does that mean?_

_**You don't know anything. It means he is a half-breed, half demon and half human. An abomination.**_

Gaara couldn't understand why the voice sounded so disgusted, because isn't that kind of what he was like. There was Gaara in his head, and then there was Shukaku. Half-human and half-monster.

_**We are nothing like that hanyou! Do not compare us to such filth, you idiotic boy!**_

Gaara decided that it was time to move on to his next captive, a woman with long black hair and big eyes. She was dressed in green and white and her outfit was rather…

Well, he's seen some female shinobi dressed in less than her, so he guessed it was okay. She was looking at him with tears in her brown eyes and she was biting her lip, like she really wanted to say something, but didn't.

Gaara let his eyes leave hers and he swept them over another woman with dark brown hair in a ponytail beside her. She was dressed in black and pink armor and was completely oblivious to his scrutiny as she struggled against the sand, trying in vain to break free.

She was clearly a fighter.

The last captive was a man dressed in blue robes who was looking at Gaara with an equally evaluative look. It was this man that finally broke the silence.

"Excuse me, but would you mind please releasing our friend's mouth? He tends to say things before really thinking them through—" the man being discussed glared angrily at this, "—and he promises that he won't say anything anymore without your permission."

This last declaration was met with even more annoyance and glares from the muted, dog-eared man, but eventually he nodded his compliance.

Gaara thought about it for a while and decided to let his mouth go.

"Who are you?" Gaara questioned again, this time his voice came out with an air of confidence instead of the resemblance to a whimper it contained before.

"I'm Kagome." The strangely dressed one said as she smiled at him. "The one on my right is Inuyasha and Sango is the one directly to my left with Miroku beside her. Pleased to meet you!"

Gaara was taken aback by her enthusiasm, especially since he was holding her and her companions captive, but it seemed like her companions were used to this behavior as the hanyou just sighed tiredly beside her.

"What's your name?" Her cheerful voice broke him out of thought and he stuttered out a reply.

"G-Gaara."

Her smile grew even more when he answered her. "Gaara, that's a cute name. Do you mind if I call you Gaara-kun?"

"Uh, s-sure," Gaara was again shocked at her openness and happiness. Didn't she realize he held her captive by his sand where he could crush her easily?

Gaara's focus was snapped back to the hanyou male as his struggled renewed to break free of the sand. "Dammit wench!" the hanyou yelled, "Don't talk to him like that. He just slaughtered an entire village and you are treating him like you treat Shippo!"

Gaara's eyes narrowed at the hanyou's words and he silently commanded the sand to tighten its grip painfully, causing Inuyasha to grunt and stop his pointless struggles.

What he wasn't expecting was the girl, Kagome, to jump to his defense.

"Inuyasha!" She seethed, "You heard him, he said he didn't mean to kill those people! He couldn't control it. Apologize to him!"

Gaara was shocked that this girl, his captive, whom he held in his sand, just jumped to his defense from her own friend's words. And she demanded an apology. For _him_.

"There is no way in hell that you are going to make me apologi—" Inuyasha started to ground out over the pain he was experiencing from the sand.

"Do as Lady Kagome says, Inuyasha. She only wants to do what's best." The man in blue interrupted the hanyou.

The hanyou looked hurt. "You're taking her side, Miroku?"

"Inuyasha," Kagome said scarily, "don't make me say 'it.'"

Gaara watched in amusement as Inuyasha gulped visibly before turning towards him and saying a gruff, "sorry."

Kagome sighed and she locked eyes with him. "I think that's the best you're going to get from him. I'm sorry Gaara-kun, I know you didn't mean to hurt those people."

Gaara blushed as he heard her attach the 'kun' to his name. This girl talked to him with kindness, defended him, and believed him when he said it wasn't his fault.

"Would you mind letting us down and telling us what happened?" Gaara stiffened as the other female spoke for the first time. He eyed her speculatively before Kagome started to speak to him.

"We just want to help out Gaara-kun, we promise not to judge you or hurt you in anyway. You can even leave us up here if you want."

He locked eyes with her before quickly moving them to the other members and returning back to her. She just met him with a blank stare and obviously didn't know what he was trying to say with just his eyes.

"I'd rather just talk to you." Gaara whispered quietly to her, and saw her stiffen in surprise. For whatever reason, he trusted this woman. She seemed to get over her shock quickly and she smiled encouragingly at him which he took as an okay.

Gaara let a small smile work its way onto his lips as he quickly dropped the sand which held Kagome and her companions before wrapping it into a dome shape so just he and Kagome were trapped underneath it.

He looked as Kagome's face took on one of awe and he felt his chest swell with pride that she approved of his work.

That was another thing he liked about this woman. She seemed to appreciate his talent and didn't fear it. Or him.

And she didn't call him a monster.

He watched Kagome inspect his sand shield and tap it once, the sand allowing her to make a little headway before pushing her fist back. The grains tickled her hand causing her to giggle.

Gaara had never made someone laugh before.

Of course, he didn't directly make her laugh, the sand did, but her controlled the sand and therefore, he made Kagome laugh. Gaara's smile widened as he realized the pain in his heart lessened when he heard her laugh.

She fixed him a smile before walking over in front of him and sitting down cross-legged. "So Gaara-kun, why don't you tell me what happened?"

Gaara took a deep breath before explaining, "I'm not from here." He looked up into her eyes and saw her fix him with a very curious look. "I don't mean I'm not from this village either, I mean I'm not from anywhere here."

He watched the girl as recognition filled her eyes. "Gaara-kun, how did you get here from where you are from?" she asked softly.

"My sand led me here," her face seemed to fall at that and he decided to tell her the whole story, "I was walking in the desert when my sand dragged me to a well and pushed me in."

At the mention of a well, Kagome's eyebrows shot up and she practically shouted at him, "What well?"

Gaara described to her the clearing the well was in and he saw Kagome smile widely at him. "Me too," she said happily, "I'm not from this time either. I fell into the well at my shrine and wound up here."

He was shocked. Whatever he was thinking would happen by talking to this woman, this was not it. "But I've never seen you in Sunagakure before! Are you from another hidden village?"

"That's the thing Gaara, I don't think I'm from wherever you are from either. I come from the future in this world. I think you must come from a time farther in the future than I am, or you come from a new world entirely."

Gaara didn't really know how to react to her theory. It was scary to think he may not even be from this world. But he did take pleasure in the fact that she wasn't from this place either. She was like him.

"Gaara, why don't you tell me what happened?" she asked probingly.

He was reluctant to tell her because he was sure she would take back what she said earlier and actually believe he killed everyone because he liked to kill.

_**You do. You took pleasure as their warm blood dripped down your face and between your fingers.**_

"Shut up!" Gaara gripped his head and his sand dome started to shake. He just wanted the voice to go away.

"Gaara! Gaara what's wrong? Tell me, I'm a miko, I can help you!" Kagome shouted, trying to come near him but sand gripped around her legs, preventing her from leaving her sitting position.

_**A miko? Why didn't we sense it? Kill her Gaara!**_

Gaara looked on horrified as his sand started to crawl up the girl's waist and legs, preparing to confine and crush her. "Stop it!" he demanded his sand and was thankful when it stopped. He didn't care if she was a miko, he liked her.

"Gaara, did someone i-in your head tell you to do what you did?" Kagome questioned calmly, but he could still tell she was in pain from how tightly his sand was grabbing her because her breathing was so shallow and she gripped her eyes tightly shut

He let go of his head and nodded cautiously at her, hoping she would understand. His sand around her loosened a little bit and she opened her eyes and he nodded again so she could see him.

She looked at him calculatingly before requesting, "Do you think he would let me talk to him?"

_**Why should I talk to her?**_

"I-I don't think that's a good idea," replied Gaara hesitatingly. His voice didn't like her and he didn't want his voice to say anything mean or hurt Kagome.

"He told you he didn't want to talk to me, didn't he?" Kagome guessed.

Gaara realized she probably wasn't going to back down from this so he told her what his voice said, "He asked me why he should talk to you."

"Well, Mr. Voice-in-Gaara's-head, you obviously must be a demon of some sort if you reacted so violently when I said I was a miko," Kagome talked loudly, "I guess you were scared that I would purify you—"

She was cut off by the sand tightening painfully around her again and she let out a small whimper from the pain.

_**Who's scared of whom now, miko?**_

"Stop it! I told you this wasn't a good idea!" Gaara's horrified voice shouted out and he tried so hard to loosen his sand from Kagome. It listened a little and released some of its pressure, but he could tell it still hurt her.

"Gaara-kun, I'm okay," Kagome said softly, catching his eye and giving him a bright smile. Gaara couldn't understand how someone could smile so happily while they were clearly in a lot of pain.

"Gaara-kun, did he say anything?" Kagome asked again, when Gaara purposely looked away from her to avoid answering. "It's really important that you tell me if he said something, Gaara-kun. I want to help you, please let me help you."

No one had ever wanted to help him before, and he guessed that was the reason he repeated what the voice said to her.

"Do you have a name, mister?" Kagome asked aloud, waiting for Gaara to convey what the demon said.

_**Why couldn't I sense you?**_

The voice replied, albeit grudgingly. Gaara relayed it to Kagome and saw her face take on a look worry. She took a deep breath before replying.

"I-I used up all my miko powers reconstructing the arm of one of your victims that got away."

_**She's completely defenseless. We could kill her right now Gaara, and she couldn't do anything about it.**_

Kagome whimpered again as the sand tightened its grip. _I don't want to hurt her. I like her._ Gaara told the voice in his head.

"Look, I get that you hate me. Mikos and demons are long sworn enemies, right?" Kagome said, pain evident in her voice, but she pressed on. "But even though you are taking advantage of my weakness right now, and I'll admit, you are indeed causing me a great deal of pain, you should know that I don't hate you. I wasn't born into all this prejudice that everyone else was in this time. I don't hate youkai just because they are youkai."

Gaara was shocked at her words, but he could tell that the voice in his head didn't particularly care about what she was saying.

"There's only one youkai I hate," Gaara watched as Kagome leaned forward and her bangs covered her eyes. Her voice dripped in malice and determination as she continued, "And I will kill him. I will not stop until I kill him for all the pain he has caused."

_**So she has a bloodthirsty side as well? Interesting.**_

Gaara didn't know whether to be more disturbed by the previous animosity in the voice, or the now admiring quality it possessed towards Kagome. He was thinking the latter.

"I don't condone what you did Mister, and it does upset me, but I don't hate you. Yet. I don't know why you did what you did and I may not understand your actions, but I don't think I will ever be able to completely hate you while you are still a part of Gaara."

_**Shukaku**_

Gaara couldn't believe he told her his name. "Shukaku," Gaara repeated, and at her confused look she sent him, he added quietly, "his name is Shukaku."

Kagome looked surprised as well, but smiled nonetheless at the information. "Thank you for telling me Shukaku. I may be a miko, but I promise you that for as long as you know me and you live within Gaara, I will not intentionally harm you with my powers. If I hurt you Shukaku, I would hurt Gaara-kun, and that is something I will never be okay with."

Kagome really confused Gaara. How could she never want to hurt him when she only just met him and he was causing her pain? Does she befriend all her enemies? And if so, whoever this youkai is that she wants to kill must have done something extremely bad if he himself had just killed an entire village and she wanted to protect him.

The sand around her slowly loosened up and flowed down her body to curl back up around his legs. Shukaku let her go. Apparently, he approved of the miko.

And that thought terrified Gaara the most.

He watched fearfully as Kagome stretched out her body and took in deep breaths, glad to be free of the grains that were hurting her. When she was done, she sat cross legged facing him again and motioned for him to tell her why he, or the voice in his head, killed an entire village.

And Gaara told her.

He told her everything, about what his life was like back home, about the awful things people called him, about his father, about Yashamaru.

About whom he thought was his first friend, Mika.

He told her what that boy Hotaka did, and how he killed him, and about the hurtful things Mika and the villagers said to him, about that _awful_ word they called him. He told her about how the voice prompted him into killing them and about how he didn't realize until afterwards what he had truly done.

By the end of his tale he was crying again, and through his eyes he saw Kagome crying as well.

_Here it comes. Now she'll call me monster, just like Mika did_. Gaara thought, and that thought alone caused him so much more pain in his heart than the village he just massacred.

"I'm sorry, Gaara," Kagome cried softly, sniffling and rubbing her nose with her sleeve. She was going to leave him, right? That's why she was apologizing. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that Gaara-kun."

And Gaara watched on in awe as she scooted closer to him and wrapped her arms around him, his sand shield not preventing her from doing so.

Warmth.

Gaara was encased in warmth, the warmth he had always longed for. It felt wonderful; the most marvelous feeling he had ever felt and he didn't even feel the pain in his chest at that moment. All he felt was warmth and joy.

He didn't even hear his cries grow louder from the kindness of such an unexpected gesture, which prompted the hand on his back to rub softly in a circle and soft shushing to sound in his ear.

Gaara wrapped his small arms around her waist and buried his head on her shoulder, hoping that she would never let go.

"I'd like to be your first friend Gaara-kun, if that's okay with you," she whispered soothingly to him. His arms grasped tighter in return and he nodded his head vigorously on her shoulder.

He was so happy. He got a hug and a friend in one day. He was so excited he didn't notice when his sand started to move and caress through Kagome's thick, black hair.

Or the contemplative quietness of the other voice in his head.

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So that's it for now guys! PLEASE REVIEW! It's really not that hard, and if it is… do it anyways! I value your opinions whether they are critical or complementary so please leave a comment!

Also, the next update may take a longer time because I move into my dorm for college this weekend and I don't know when I'll have time to write more. BUT I promise that as soon as I can, I will type like a crazy person and get out the next chapter!

Thanks again!

Kitkatattack

P.S. I bet you don't know this, but while I type my stories I actually have to listen to the Naruto soundtrack or the Inuyasha soundtrack, depending on what perspective I am writing from….I'm such a freak….

P.P.S. This chapter was really long….I am so sorry.

P.P.P.S. So sorry if there were any typos! I was trying to post this as fast as I could before I have to go!


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